scholarly journals Skin color and perceived discrimination: a comparative study between Brazilians and Mozambicans

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Emanoel Pereira ◽  
Elza Maria Techio ◽  
José Luís Álvaro ◽  
Carina Feitosa ◽  
Benvindo Maloa ◽  
...  

Despite the numerous efforts to reduce prejudice and social discrimination as well as their repercussions, such phenomena are still part of everyday life and mark individual life stories. The experiences of the target and the agent of discrimination were differents. The present study addresses a gap in the literature of social psychology: through a relational analysis, it explores the perceptions of the target of discrimination without leaving aside the perspective of the agent. Using a computerized version of a self-report instrument, we aimed to assess the relation between the experience of racial discrimination and skin color and to what extent this relation is modulated by psychosocial and sociodemographic variables in two national contexts, Brazil and Mozambique. A total of 150 university students participated in the study, 89 from Brazil and 61 from Mozambique. The results show that in both countries the participants report more experiences of discrimination coming from White than from Black people, with a larger difference for the Brazilian sample population. The study also verified that the darker the person’s skin color, the higher their perception of having been discriminated against. In the Brazilian group, the accounts of discrimination coming both from White and Black people are associated with darker skin color. In the Mozambican group, diversely, participants with lighter and darker skin color perceived being the target of discrimination, inflicted both by White and Black people. Finally, we identified that perceived discrimination is predicted by skin color. The discussion focuses on the perspective of the targets of discrimination and highlights the role of skin color in the process of perceiving racial discrimination, especially regarding the psychosocial variables motivation to control prejudice and social domination.

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Lan ◽  
Xuji Jia ◽  
Xia Liu

Background: Previous study has indicated that perceived discrimination affected the children’s behaviors, but whether belief in a just world moderates the relationship between perceived discrimination and problem behaviors among left-behind children and whether there are differences between boys and girls are still unknown. Aims: This study aims at exploring whether perceived discrimination influences the left-behind children’s behaviors and the moderating role of belief in a just world among both boys and girls. Methods: Using cross-sectional data on rural left-behind children in Henan Province of China, this study examined the relationships among perceived discrimination (personal and group), belief in a just world and problem behaviors for both boys and girls. The participants included 336 boys and 310 girls. Self-report questionnaires captured perceived discrimination, belief in a just world and problem behaviors. Results: The results demonstrated that Chinese left-behind boys who perceived a high amount of personal discrimination were prone to exhibit problem behaviors. Yet, neither perceived personal nor group discrimination was associated with problem behaviors among the left-behind girls. Moreover, the children’s belief in a just world moderated the association between perceived discrimination and problem behaviors among the boys; in those who reported higher levels of belief in a just world, the negative effect of perceived personal discrimination on problem behaviors appeared weaker, comparing to those who reported lower levels of belief in a just world. In addition, the negative effect of perceived group discrimination on problem behaviors appeared stronger among the left-behind boys who reported higher levels of belief in a just world. Conclusion: Belief in a just world provided a protect function for the left-behind children when facing perceived personal discrimination. More attention should be paid on belief in a just world, perceived discrimination and problem behaviors among left-behind children.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ortal Slobodin ◽  
Tamar Icekson ◽  
Lee Herman ◽  
Ofri Vaknin

Research has increasingly recognized the adverse effects of perceived discrimination on the academic outcomes of children and adolescents from ethnic and racial minority backgrounds. However, little is known about the association between perceived discrimination and the motivation of ethnic minority students to pursue higher education. Guided by an academic resilience framework, the current study examined the relationship between perceived discrimination and two types of motivation to pursue higher education (personal/career-driven and expectation-driven) among Ethiopian undergraduate students in Israel. In addition, we examined the role of ethnic identity as a potential moderator of this relationship. Participants were 183 undergraduate students of Ethiopian origin (77% females) who studied in 18 different higher-education institutes. Participants completed self-report questionnaires concerning their experiences of perceived discrimination, affiliation with their Ethiopian identity, and their reasons for pursuing higher education. Results showed that frequent discrimination experiences were positively related to a stronger ethnic identity and to higher levels of personal/career motivation to pursue higher education. Ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and personal/career motivation so that the association was significant under low and moderate levels of ethnic identity but not under high levels. Our findings suggest that the awareness of discrimination may motivate students to pursue higher education and succeed in academia. However, the motivating force of perceived discrimination diminishes under high levels of ethnic identification. Further investigation is needed to explore how discrimination and ethnic identity work together to impact academic motivation in different developmental stages and socio-cultural contexts.


Author(s):  
Faeze Rezazade ◽  
Esmaeil Zohdi

Racial prejudice, injustice, and discrimination against people of colored skin, especially African Americans, has become a global issue since the twenty century. Blacks are deprived of their rights regardless of their human natures and are disenfranchised from White’s societies due to their skin color which has put them as inferior and clownish creatures in White’s point of view. Although many anti-racist effort and speeches has done to solve racist issues and eliminate racism and its circumstances, still racism is alive and Blacks are suffering from it. Although, many White individuals accept themselves as anti-racist characters that color of skin does not matter to them, they still show prejudice and discrimination towards Blacks and cannot consider them as equal as themselves. A reason to such Whites’ thought and behavior is that they have faced this issue since their childhood and therefore they cannot change it because this attitude is entangled with their personality and is deeply ingrained in them. Thus, a way to stop and eliminate discrimination, prejudice, and injustice is to train children, the next generation, as anti-racist and color-blind characters. In this regard, it has been tried to investigate the role of children training in the elimination of social and racial discrimination in Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (2015), which is sequel novel to her masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). Moreover, Jean Piaget’s theory of Children’s Cognitive Development has been used for a better understanding of this investigation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Que-Lam Huynh ◽  
Thierry Devos

A robust relationship between perceived racial discrimination and psychological distress has been established. Yet, mixed evidence exists regarding the extent to which ethnic identification moderates this relationship, and scarce attention has been paid to the moderating role of national identification. We propose that the role of group identifications in the perceived discrimination–psychological distress relationship is best understood by simultaneously and interactively considering ethnic and national identifications. A sample of 259 Asian American students completed measures of perceived discrimination, group identifications (specific ethnic identification stated by respondents and national or “mainstream American” identification), and psychological distress (anxiety and depression symptoms). Regression analyses revealed a significant three-way interaction of perceived discrimination, ethnic identification, and national identification on psychological distress. Simple-slope analyses indicated that dual identification (strong ethnic and national identifications) was linked to a weaker relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress compared to other group identification configurations. These findings underscore the need to consider the interconnections between ethnic and national identifications to better understand the circumstances under which group identifications are likely to buffer individuals against the adverse effects of racial discrimination.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina J. Sun ◽  
Alice Ma ◽  
Amanda E. Tanner ◽  
Lilli Mann ◽  
Beth A. Reboussin ◽  
...  

Background.Little is known about the role of discrimination on depression among Latino sexual and gender identity minorities. This manuscript examined the relationship between ethnic/racial discrimination and sexual discrimination on clinically significant depressive symptoms among Latino sexual minority men (i.e., gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men) and Latina transgender women.Methods.A community-based participatory research partnership recruited participants (N= 186; 80.6% cisgender men) in North Carolina to a social network-based HIV intervention. Using baseline data, we quantified the amount of perceived discrimination and conducted mixed-effects logistic regression analyses to examine correlates of clinically significant depressive symptoms.Results.A high percentage of participants reported ethnic/racial discrimination (73.7%) and sexual discrimination (53.8%). In the multivariable models, ethnic/racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, masculinity, fatalism, and social support were significantly associated with clinically significant depressive symptoms.Discussion.Improving mental health requires multilevel interventions that address pertinent individual, interpersonal, and system level factors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-182
Author(s):  
Tegar Risadi Chalid

The problem in this thesis is the racial discrimination from white community against black community that was their former slave in the past, the author analyzes three poems by Zephaniah based on the issue of racial discrimination. Poem represents the poet’s feeling about the social phenomena that surrounds him, and these poems are also the form of protest against racial discrimination. The purpose of this study is to analyze the treatment from white communities against black communities that consider that their race to be superior compared to their former slaves. The manifestation of racial discrimination can be seen from the attitude of prejudice, insulting words and remarks, and the acts of oppression on black community. In this writing, library research is taken as the method of data collection. As for the method of data analysis, the author performs systematic procedures by understanding of the poem, the theme of racial discrimination, and also the theory of psychology. Data collection technique uses qualitative techniques in finding the data in form of explanation on the phenomenon that occurs. In the technique of data analysis, the writer uses genetic structuralism techniques by analyzing the oppression of black society in Zephaniah’s poems through psychology theory. The findings in this thesis are: 1) in the poem of The Race Industry, white society always oppresses black society so that they have to work hard but do not get the result that they deserves, 2) in poem We Refugee, white society always have prejudice against black people because of their skin color and not because of their actions, 3) in Dis Poetry, white community always says provocative words and remarks to offend black people.


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